Italian luxury jewelry brand BVLGARI faced criticism on Tuesday (11th) for listing “China” and “Taiwan” side by side on its official website, treating Taiwan as a separate country. This sparked anger among Chinese netizens, who called for a boycott. Subsequently, BVLGARI issued an apology statement on its official Weibo account, affirming its respect for China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, reiterating its unwavering stance.
State media outlet People’s Daily posted on Weibo, “Apologies shouldn’t be limited to mainland China,” accompanying the post with an image featuring BVLGARI’s apology statement, along with the icons of Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram, with the word “share.”
In its statement on Weibo, BVLGARI explained that the mislabeling of store locations on its overseas website was due to managerial oversight and had been promptly corrected upon discovery. The brand expressed deep regret for the error and sincerely thanked netizens for their supervision. BVLGARI also stated that it was collaborating with third-party international service providers to ensure accurate labeling of relevant countries and regions on its overseas website.
Following this, People’s Daily published an article on Weibo titled “Apologies shouldn’t be limited to mainland China,” stating that BVLGARI’s apology was brief, lacking substance, and far from convincing. The so-called “managerial oversight” and “labeling error” were difficult to accept. Is this apology exclusively for mainland China? How will they rectify the issue fundamentally? Red lines cannot be crossed, bottom lines cannot be compromised. Principles cannot be taken lightly. China must not be compromised in the slightest!
People’s Daily also included the same image in the post, featuring BVLGARI’s apology statement along with the icons of Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram, with the word “share.”
According to previous reports, netizens pointed out that according to the “All Stores” page on BVLGARI’s official website, Taiwan was displayed alongside China, Hong Kong SAR China, and Macao SAR China under the Asian market section. Japan, Singapore, India, and other countries were also listed together. Netizens noted that this issue appeared on BVLGARI’s Taiwan and international official websites.
Further investigation revealed that on these pages, BVLGARI indeed listed Taiwan (Taiwan) alongside China (China), Hong Kong SAR China (Hong Kong SAR China), and Macao SAR China (Macao SAR China) in various languages such as Chinese and English. However, when consumers clicked on the option to select the delivery area on BVLGARI’s Taiwan website and other official websites, the page clearly displayed Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong SAR, and Macao SAR.
The incident garnered widespread attention. Many Chinese netizens expressed anger and vowed to boycott BVLGARI, stating, “We will firmly boycott and never buy BVLGARI again,” “Did BVLGARI earn too little in China? What gave you the courage?” “You dare to claim it was not intentional?” “Don’t you want the Chinese market anymore?” “Representatives, please terminate your contracts,” “Get out of China, BVLGARI.” The commentary from Xinhua News Agency’s Reference News, which is sponsored by the state media, stated, “China cannot be compromised in the slightest. This is common sense and, more importantly, a bottom line.” Source